It did, actually, even though the block itself is kind of eclectic, to say the least.
However, the initial design by Mr. Toner was more consistent, but the Mansard was as a result of the request of the immediate neighbors.
But thank you.
Any other questions from the board?
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson um yeah so the plans that um mr toner
showed a pair to appear to be revised plans um from what was okay so we did not get revised plans
or proviso forms so um i think we're going to just have to hold the vote till we get that so we can
review it um assuming that you know the board is granting um but yeah we just didn't receive
that information for the hearing today were you able to get the tax uh proof of tax payment i i
did not see it um but i did send that as well uh that you are in compliance so that's not an issue
we just need to see the revised plans we'll send but we could we can close everything
We can close everything right and then just vote next week. Is that right? That is correct. Sure. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Right. And then just vote next week. Is that right? That is correct. Sure.
There are no hands.
Planning Commission. Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing RM1 residential multifamily.
the proposal is a de minimis expansion of the non-conforming occupied area which was permitted
in 2011 under permit number 380950 for 94 the planning commission recommends that the board
grant the requested variance for occupied area so we're going to close everything and we'll
we'll vote for this next uh wednesday morning 9 30. correct at 9 30. thank you um thank you
2 p.m.
Oh, 2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Yeah, so we'll just close this except for revised plans, proviso form, and the proof of tax compliance.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Vern, could you stay one more minute?
Yes, sir.
Well, maybe a little longer than a minute.
Number 10, MI2025-006849-2024, Delancey Street.
Vern, just state your name for the record.
Vern Anastasio on behalf of Mr. Jason McMahon.
Okay. And I see there's a letter of non-opposition with the Center City
Resident Residents Association. And our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Thank you.
Good afternoon. Again, have you submitted all the documents and exhibits for this case
five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
Thank you.
2024 Delancey Place is, the application is for parking garage for two cars, and that is why we're here, the parking area of the building.
It's very important to note, I think it's Panama back there.
and by the way this is this is the two-car garage on panama as you can see here where my cursor is
and then as you can see the the townhouse is a 2024 delancey
we do have some interior layouts
and there's the proposed garage on the right hand side here
moving all of these materials into evidence but i think it's important to see that you know the
rest of panama is in fact all parking so this particular property as it currently exists is
This is one of the few that doesn't have rear parking for a townhome on Delancey, and all of these have been approved by the Zoning Board in previous hearings.
So, as I've already submitted the letter to the immediate neighbors, we've had overwhelming support by CCRA.
and as a result of existing conditions on panama itself already approval from the historic
commission and the streets department we're respectfully requesting the granting of this
variance and with that if my client is still present i'd like to call mr jason mcmahon
there's a jeffrey mcmahon i'm sorry jeffrey mcmahon my apologies
can you hear me yes we can sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
it is not jason verne i already corrected myself once it's jeffrey mcmahon j-e-f-f-r-e-y m-c-m-a-h-o-n
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do counsel thank you jeff did you hear my presentation to the board uh this afternoon
and it's true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes and you adopt it as your own
testimony i do thank you questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson i just wanted to clarify mr anastacio
is um mr mcmahon is he one of the owners of the property he is he is part of the uh
part of the uh ownership company yes okay all right thank you yep questions or comments from
okay all right thank you yep questions or comments from the virtual audience
in the virtual audience.
no hands planning commission amy board with the planning commission a comprehensive plan
recommends no change in this location from the current rm1 residential multi-family
the proposal for parking on panama street is consistent with the majority of the block
the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variance for parking
mi2025-006-849-2024 delancey place i vote yes michael johnson my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes my mcadams my vote is yes
my vote is yes thank you thank you council thank you for six mi2025-006-499-4320
Lancaster Avenue. Meredith Ferliger is the attorney.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Counsel, could you, um, how's your, is your mic on there?
Yeah, move it up a little closer. Right, okay. Um, could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer my name is meredith ferleger f-e-r-l-e-g-e-r you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do yes could you identify your client the
relationship to this property uh i can slightly complicated uh my client is the lancaster avenue
21st century business association uh which we will address in our presentation has authority
from the Philadelphia Land Bank to pursue the request before the board today.
Michael, Michael's.
Yeah, Mr. Jerry's.
Michael Jones is going to recuse himself from this.
So there is a letter of support from Hope Philadelphia RCO,
and there's a letter of strong support from Council Member Gauthier.
Basically, I am writing to show my strong support for the variance application
for 4320 Lancaster Avenue.
This parcel in question is awkwardly shaped because of its corner location on the steep diagonal Lancaster Avenue commercial corridor.
The proposed uses of entrepreneurship, incubation, co-working, and community progress fit this location on the corridor.
It means that the level of activity in this building would still be relatively commensurate with a by-right commercial use despite the increased building height.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, ma'am.
And do you waive the read, not the refusal, or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
All right. Thank you. You can show your screen and proceed with the case.
Thank you. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, as I mentioned, my client today is the Lancaster Avenue 21st Century Business Association.
we have a variety of different representatives today from our team including kweku botang
it's right here miss stephanie collins and then anthony fullard who is also a part of our
development team and then we do also have kurt raymond who is our architect with cicada
architecture with us today as well to the board we submitted a detailed exhibit packet with 19
13 total exhibits. The packet includes standard information, including evidence of tax clearance at Exhibit 2, and evidence of the applicants somewhat complicated authority to pursue today's request at Exhibits 3 and 4.
i'm not going to walk you through them but just to summarize those exhibits show that the land
bank is the actual or equitable owner of both the existing lots at 4320 and 4322 lancaster avenue
and that through various city council authorizing legislation has given my client authority to
pursue today's request before it would formally convey the lots to my client following the
entitlement process which is a standard order of business at exhibit 16 and 17 as mr chairman
already referenced you will see letters of support from the coordinating rco hope phl
as well as from councilwoman jamie godier in short the project before the board today is
for a new hub for the lancaster avenue entrepreneurs resource resource innovation center
the space will include a shared commissary and catering kitchen a business hub with computers
libraries and other support services for startup businesses incubator and working spaces shared
community spaces and most importantly the offices of la21 while we discuss the proposal today the
while we discuss the proposal today the board can refer to exhibit 19 for a detailed project
The board can refer to exhibit.
summary that i did include that i will have my client come up and touch on momentarily
the property before you today is located at 4320 and 4322 lancaster avenue in west philadelphia
area as you can see from the zoning map up on the screen at Exhibit 9 the property itself is a highly
irregularly shaped somewhat triangular shaped property that sits right at the corner of Lancaster
Avenue which I'm indicating with my cursor and right at the corner of Parrish Street as you can
see the property and most of the surrounding properties in this area are zoned cmx2
for site context i've also included aerial images at exhibit 10 and again you can see
that the property before you is the slightly triangularly shaped property that is right at
the corner here that is engulfed by the new development that has occupied the entirety of
rest of this block with commercial spaces that exist along lancaster avenue as well as 49 dwelling
units from the east you'll see that the property is located along the lancaster avenue commercial
corridor which as the board knows has been undergoing steadily steady revitalization
evidenced by several new developments that this board has seen over the last couple of years
just to give you a little bit of extra uh context I'll walk you through a few photographs at exhibit
11 just to orient you to the property this first view is looking in on the property from Parish
Street and looks out towards Lancaster Avenue in this next view here you can see that the property
directly from Lancaster Avenue with two mature street trees that are proposed to remain with
this proposal a similar view of the property is shown here from the corner which looks a little
bit further down lancaster avenue the next photograph moves a little bit further northwest
along lancaster avenue which is taken in front of the newly developed property directly across the
street. And then another view is shown here from 44th Street a little bit further up Lancaster
Avenue which looks down towards the property where again you can glean the scale of this
particular block of Lancaster Avenue. And again this is shown a little bit more on the next
photograph. This is just the next block over and you can see again some of the context where the
board recently granted relief for the construction of a five-story project at 4408 lancaster avenue
which is quite similar in scale to the proposal before you today and then we did also included
exhibit 12 evidence of the timely posting from back when it was covered in snow
exhibit six includes a site survey let me zoom in on that a little bit
which shows that there are two existing lots at the corner here that are proposed to be
consolidated into one new parcel of 2398 square feet despite the consolidation you can see that
the parcel still has an irregular shape which although it looks like a triangle actually has
five sides at this point i'd like to bring up a representative from la 21 to just give you a brief
overview of the project and then i'll ask our architect to walk you through the plans but just
very briefly from a zoning standpoint at exhibit one on the refusal here
you can see that the proposal is for the erection of a new five-story building
for uses under the zoning code categories as a community center commissary and catering services
and business and professional offices throughout and as shown as at exhibit 18 the project has
already received a commitment for a 1 million dollar community project funding grant from hud
as well as an additional 750 000 from the city's department of commerce given the importance of
this project for the corridor so stephanie you want to come up i'm going to sit here
if you want to give your name the chairman can swear you in you do your mic okay yes okay could
you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer stephanie collins s-t-e-p-h-a-n-i-e
Stephanie Collins, S-T-E-P-H-A-N-I-E, C-O-L-L-I-N-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Thank you, Stephanie. Can you just identify your affiliation with LA-21?
Yes. I am the Vice President of Administration with LA-21, as well as the Board Secretary.
Great. And if you wouldn't mind, if you could just give the Board an overview of this project itself and what it entails.
Sure. And thank you all for this opportunity to share just a few points with you about
the commercial property at 4320 to 4322 Lancaster Ave. So the LA21 area hub is a commercial use
entrepreneur and economic development project designed to strengthen the Lancaster Avenue
business quarter. The goal is to improve the quality of life throughout West Philadelphia.
Our building is intentionally programmed. The first floor activates the street with retail and cafe style for small business startups, along with the commissary kitchen that allows food entrepreneurs to produce and sell their products.
the second floor houses the la21 eric business hub offering computers training and technical
assistance the third and fourth floors will provide 14 affordable incubator office spaces
for startup businesses while the fifth floor will house the la21 offices
a green rooftop with solar panels and planters will provide an additional communal space
for the building usage the goal of this project is to create equitable and sustainable economic
development by expanding opportunity supporting entrepreneurship and keeping businesses rooted
within the community and neighborhood this hub will serve as a permanent home for la 21's scale
up your business alumni many of who struggle to find affordable space in the city to receive
necessary business supportive services. The LA21 ERIC Hub is expected to help launch 20 new
businesses annually, increase business revenue along Lancaster Avenue, and create over 100 jobs
through construction and supported businesses. It will also increase foot traffic, improve safety
and walkability, and strengthening the overall commercial corridor. This is a community-driven
project developed by local stakeholders focused on supporting the disadvantaged small businesses
reducing displacement and building long-term economic stability so in short la21 eric is not
just a building it's a long-term economic engine and community asset for west philadelphia thank
you for your consideration thank you thank you stephanie next witness
heard if you want to come up the zoning plans are shown in your packet at exhibit seven
we also have floor plans and renderings uh and kurt if you want to just briefly walk the board
why don't you state your name first thank you spelled for the statement k-u-r-t-r-a-y-m-o-n-d
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do counsel. Thank you. Uh, Kurt, if you want to just walk the board briefly through the actual project itself, uh, and I have the zoning plan up on the screen, I can bring up the floor plans next. So you just tell me when to flip.
Okay. Uh, yeah, so this is the zoning plan. As you can see, it occupies that site at the corner of Lancaster and Paris street. Uh, the proposed building occupies a lot of the site, uh, because of its small size, we have left a little open space to the back for a dumpster enclosure.
that will serve some of the program we'll talk about in a minute immediately across Lancaster
Avenue is primarily mixed-use buildings one two and three stories high commercial uses on the
first floor to the south east are some residential properties and because of concerns about the height
of this building we did do shadow studies to understand how the sun and the shadows would
That affects things and given the width about Lancaster Avenue, and the properties across the street does minimal shadow casting on on Lancaster and and none on the residential properties.
So this is a rendering for Lancaster Avenue, and it was the inspiration for this was sort of Philadelphia's industrial history sort of worker loss.